310 The Fowl-like Birds 



the whole plumage of the males is lanceolate. The Common Koklass (P. macro- 

 lopJia) of the western Himalayas has the under plumage and sides of the body 

 ashy streaked with black in the male, the female being mostly rufous streaked 

 with black. This is l especially a forest-haunting species, frequenting the wooded 

 ravines from an elevation of about 4000 feet up to near the limit of trees, though 

 most abundant in the lower and intermediate ranges. It is a rather ret. ring, 

 solitary bird, generally found singly or in pairs, never congregating in flocks even 

 during the winter season, and in fact appears to be one of the few members of its 

 class that remain paired for life. 



Cheer Pheasant. Also inhabiting the Himalayas, from Nepal to Chamba, 

 is the Cheer Pheasant (Catreus wallichi), which is the only representative of its 

 genus. The male attains a length of thirty-four inches, over twenty of which are 

 taken up by the long, straight, pointed tail, while the female is but thirty inches 

 and has the tail about fifteen inches. The male has a crest of soft, narrow feathers, 

 quite three inches long and dark brown in color, the general upper plumage being 

 pale buff, barred with black and pale blue bands; the female has the mantle 

 chestnut, each feather with a pair of black oval spots. The Cheer inhabits the 

 lower ranges, being partial to grassy hills with a scattered forest of oak and 

 small patches of underwood, as well as hills covered with pines. Separating into 

 pairs during the nesting season, they congregate in small flocks during the other 

 seasons and are quite limited in their wanderings. "Both males and females 

 crow at daybreak and dusk, and in cloudy weather sometimes during the day." 



True Pheasants. We have now come to a consideration of the true Pheas- 

 ants, which are comprised in three genera and upward of thirty species, five of 

 which are known only in a fossil state from the Miocene and Pliocene of central 

 or western Europe, thus proving beyond question the great antiquity of the group, 

 and showing also that the distribution was formerly more extensive than at pres- 

 ent, the range now being from southeastern Europe, across central Asia, to Japan 

 and Formosa. They are for the most part gorgeously plumaged birds of large 

 size for the group, few being under thirty inches and some exceeding six feet in 

 length, much of which, however, is taken up by the long, straight, narrow, and 

 pointed tail. The male has the sides of the head naked and covered with bril- 

 liant red skin; there is no crest, but the ear-tufts are considerably developed and 

 point backward, and each leg is provided with a pair of spurs. Certain of the 

 Pheasants are among those most frequently seen in aviaries and, being fairly 

 hardy and adaptable in disposition, breed readily in confinement or semiconfine- 

 ment ; and several of the species are known to interbreed, not only in captivity 

 but in a state of nature. Thus the Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), 

 which is perhaps really native in southern Turkey, Greece, and parts of Asia 

 Minor, was introduced into the British Islands some sixteen or seventeen cen- 

 turies ago, and at a much later date the Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant (P. 

 torquatus] was imported, with the result that the two species have intermingled 

 to such an extent that it is rare indeed to find a typical, pure-bred example of 

 either. The Common Pheasant has also been introduced into many parts of 

 Europe, and this, together with the Ring-necked, Japanese Green Pheasant 



